Diamonds In The Rough
Text: James 1:1-12
Subject: Faith
Theme: Testing of our faith
Proposition: It’s a joyful thing to have our faith tested.
Interrogative: How is the testing of our faith joyful?
Transitional sentence: It is joyful because of the results of the testing.
Introduction:
When I was a boy growing up, in my pre-teen and teen years I used to look at the people that were going to church. I would see all the people going to church, they would be dressed in their nicest clothes and drive their nicest car to church every Sunday morning. I went to church when I was a boy too so I got to see those people up close and personal. I was just sure that their lives were great, that they had it all figured out, that they didn’t have a problem in the world. Little did I know then, I wasn’t a Christian then and what I thought was that if you were a Christian that you had everything all figured out. That if you were a Christian your life was great, that if you were a Christian you didn’t have any problems. I remember thinking to myself I wonder what it would be like to have a life like that. Not having a care in the world and life just goes on smoothly all of the time.
You would think with me thinking like that I would’ve become a Christian back then instead of when I did. I didn’t become a Christian until many years later, a couple of years after my wife and I got married. I had forgotten when I became a Christian about the way I thought when I was a boy. My thoughts when I became a Christian were about asking Jesus to be my Savior and being baptized for the forgiveness of my sins. It wasn’t until a few months after that I thought about the people I saw and knew when I was a kid. I thought about how I thought their lives were great and they didn’t have any troubles. I thought if they didn’t have any troubles back then way am I having so many now.
I know now that they did have problems. I remember being in and out of work, not having enough money to live on and having to depend on our parents for the support we needed. Just at the time when we would have money our car would break down or someone in the family would be sick. I can remember a time where months went by and I swore that my car knew when I got my paychecks, because it seemed to never fail that whenever I would get my check my car would break down. Every time I thought we would get ahead something would bring us back down.
I remember thinking why is my life this way, why do all these things happen to me? I must be doing something wrong, I must have sins in my life that I’m not confessing or I must not be confessing them right, I must be doing something wrong. I thought that since I was trying to live a good life that God would see me through the hard times and not let me down as He was back then. You see that’s what I thought back then, back then I was a Christian, but a baby Christian. I was a Christian that needed to mature in my faith. I was a Christian that was on fire for Christ, but I was a Christian of little and immature faith. What I couldn’t figure out then, I can figure out now. What I thought I was doing wrong then, turned out to be right for now. I have found out through the years since I have been a Christian that God works all things out for good for those that love Him. (Rom. 8:28). And as I look back on my life now I can see that God was working on me. He was allowing (not causing) these things to happen to me and my family to test my faith and make me stronger. I don’t think that God will stop testing me, because I don’t think that I’m as strong as I can be in my faith. I believe that I can grow a lot more in my faith and I don’t ever want to think that I have it all figured out and I’m as faithful as I can get. When trials and tribulations happen now I have a different attitude about them. Not that I did something wrong, but what is God preparing me for now. It seems odd to say, but I welcome the trials that Satan gives me, that God allows him to, because I know that if I endure, and stay steadfast I will become stronger in my faith and Satan will have less of an ability to turn me away and make me doubt God.
James in his book talks about the things that I have been talking about. In the first twelve verses of chapter one of James, James tells us how we should handle and react to the trials we encounter. I reads like this:
James 1:1-12, JAMES, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. 2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position; 10 and let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
1. Encountering various trials should be joyful (Vs. 2)
Is it surprising that James would say that trials should be joyful? What do you think the Christians of that day thought? I can imagine there were some when they read that were thinking that he was crazy. They have been going through persecution and there were some that were being killed for their faith in Christ. Now I’m sure that they loved Jesus with all their hearts, that’s why they went through the persecution they went through. That is also why they were dispersed abroad. They were being persecuted and God allowed them to be. I’m sure that they didn’t realize it when they were living it, but we can look back now and see what their persecution did for spreading the gospel. As long as all was good in Jerusalem the Christians weren’t leaving. Their knowledge about Christ was staying with them where they were, but when they were dispersed by persecution the gospel spread quickly. Just think about this, what do you do when you have a new neighbor or there is someone new in town or someone new in the church. Most of the time about the first thing you do is ask them where they came from, maybe ask them a little about their background or something along those lines. It would’ve been the same back then. The people that were dispersed would come to a new place and people would ask about them and they would tell them what was going on and the gospel would be spread throughout the world. Not so much because the people were willing to spread the gospel, but because of what was happening in their lives. You see Satan was the cause of the persecution, but God used it to further His kingdom and spread the gospel as it had never been spread before.
a. Testing of your faith produces endurance (Vs. 3)
Now think about this, what does is do for you when you see someone come to Christ? How does it make you feel? It makes us feel good, why, because we know that because that person placed their trust in Christ they can now have eternal life. When we see things like that happened in only serves to make our faith stronger, and it makes us want to go out and spread the gospel all the more. So don’t you think that it did the same for them? They endured and the gospel spread and they became stronger.
Lets take a look at some scripture and see what it says about endurance.
2 Cor. 6:4-5 “but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger”
Heb 12:1-3, “THEREFORE, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”
Heb 10:36, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised”
Luke 21:19, “By your endurance you will gain your lives.”
That brings me to the next reason why we should be joyful when we encounter various trials
b. Perfect, Complete, Lacking in nothing (Vs. 4)
James goes on to tell us what will happen to us after we have endured the trials that we have in life. In verse 4 it says “And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”. This is the whole reason why James is able to say consider it all joy when you encounter various trials. There is no doubt that James himself and the apostles have been through trials and there is no doubt that they have seen the results of those trials, having endured them themselves. In Acts is just one on those cases.
In Acts chapter 5 it says this: Acts 5:38-42, “And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action should be of men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” 40 And they took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
So they ended up flogging them and letting them go and they went away rejoicing. You might think that was a little thing, but what is a flogging? A flogging was being whipped 39 times, it is said that that was just one whipping short of death. So they were whipped almost to the point of death and they still went away rejoicing because they were considered worthy of persecution. And notice what it did for them, they endured the persecution and it only made them stronger and they went right on preaching Christ to the people.
Now I don’t want to dwell on this point to long because I’m going to come back to it later.
2. Ask God for wisdom (Vs. 5)
In verse 5 James goes on to tell us what to do if we lack the wisdom we need to make it through our trials. He tells us to ask God for wisdom. This is something that I have been doing for a very long time now. It is probably my most consistent prayer. When I used to ask for wisdom I was thinking that I was asking God for more knowledge, but in reality when you ask for wisdom you are asking that God will help you to make the most out of the knowledge that you already have. You see wisdom is not an abundance of knowledge, it’s the ability to use the knowledge we have in the best possible way.
a. God gives to all men generously (Vs. 5)
It says that God gives to all men generously and without reproach. He gives you the wisdom you ask for. He gives with a purpose, with the purpose of furthering His kingdom. God will not hold back, His goal is to bring more people to know Him and to have more people love Him. By giving us “Christians” wisdom to endure through your trials, we and those around us, will grow and become stronger in Christ. When people see us going through trials and they see us come through those trials they will look and they will wonder. Most everyone has people around them that are not Christians and those non-Christians see it when we go through things and they see God working in our lives.
We don’t always have to spread the gospel with our mouths. God knows that not all of us will, yet we are Christians. Not all of us have the ability to go to our neighbors and tell them about Jesus. But we do have the ability to show Christ in our lives by the things we do. So in the trials of life, come ask for God for wisdom and He will give abundantly. Let Him guide you and it will prove out in the end.
b. Ask in faith without any doubting (Vs. 6)
But when we are asking, James says to ask in faith without any doubting. We are told to ask and to except that God will give. Not only except that God will give but to know in our hearts that He will give. James goes on to say, “for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind”. You can not doubt that God will give wisdom when you ask for it, again it goes to say “For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”. You see what James is saying here is that when you ask for wisdom you must ask with the right motives. Not to gain in your personal material possessions or your status in the world but to gain in Christ, to gain in your knowledge of Christ and your faith in Him. Gaining in your material possessions or in your status will not help the kingdom of God. God intends and will give you wisdom if you ask with the right motives. God’s intent is to further His kingdom not to further your possession or your status. Now don’t get me wrong here. I think that God will further your possessions and your status in the world if that is what it takes to further His kingdom, and He will bless you for living a faithful life. The man being of double-mind is not the man that only has the kingdom of God in mind. God wants us to become stable in all of His ways, not in all the ways of the world. Ask for wisdom, in faith that God will see you through for the purpose of making you stronger in Christ and furthering His kingdom and He will give it without reproach.
Now lets move on in the text, it goes on to say “But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position and let the rich man glory in his humiliation
3. No one is immune from trials (Vs. 9&10)
a. The poor man
It says here let the poor man (brother of humble circumstances) glory in his high position. Normally the poor man is not in a high position. The poor in normally in the lowest positions with the lowest paying jobs, the worst houses, no car or a car that is so bad that it continually breaks down on him. I said that no one is immune from trials and the poor man has the trials that come with being poor. He wonders how he will make it to the next day or week or month. He wonders if he will be here next year and wonders where his next meal will come from. A poor man gets to the point that he has to depend on others to make it from day to day and the poor man, more than the rich man puts his dependence in God. Normally the poor are more spiritual than the rich and that’s why it says let him glory in his high position. He has no earthly inheritance and he looks eagerly for his heavenly inheritance. He has a lowly position while on this earth, but Jesus is making him a mansion in heaven.
b. The rich man
Lets look at some scripture concerning the rich man, Matt. 19:24, “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
1 Tim. 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.”
The rich man has all he thinks he needs, he has material possessions and he has status in this world. Where is his faith, his faith is in his possession, in his status. He thinks that he can buy his way out of his troubles. But James says let him glory in his humiliation. His humiliation is that his riches and his status cannot and will not get him out of all his troubles. His humiliation is that he, just like the poor man or anyone on this earth he has to depend on someone else and that is Jesus Christ for eternal life. It is hard for him to do that since he can buy anything he wants, but it’s not impossible.
What about some rich men in the bible, what about Zachaeus, what about Joseph of Arimathaea, what about Barnabas, Nicodemus, Mary the sister of Lazarus, what about Job and Abraham. All these people were rich yet all these people depended on God and some Christ, and all these people you will see in heaven. There is nothing wrong with being rich. Christians that are rich are a blessing to the church. The rich man must remember where he came from and where he is going. He must know, just like James says here “like flowering grass he will pass away”
Conclusion:
Now let us move to the last of our text it says, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial.” If you can make it through the hardships of life, if you can endure in Christ you are truly a blessed person. Every trial and tribulation that you go through will only make you a stronger Christian, if you stay steadfast and endure in Christ. If you’re a new Christian you my wonder why you are going through all these things, let me encourage you by saying this. If you are a Christian and your life is going great and you don’t have a problem or a care in the world, then you have a problem. You have a problem because Satan thinks he has you right where he wants you. If we are a church and we don’t have a problem or care in the world, then we have a problem. Then we are not a growing church, and we are a church that is complacent with the world around us. If Satan has you where he wants you then he will not bother with you. But if you are a threat to him then he is going to be looking for ways to get at you. If this church is growing and making a difference for the kingdom of God, then Satan is going to be looking for ways to turn our focus off growing and the kingdom of God, to turmoil’s within the church. You need to examine your life if your not having any go wrong. Evaluate your life, look and see what you have done for God lately. Look and see what you have done to further the kingdom of God lately.
Young Christian Satan, will be all over you. Satan will work on you the hardest when you are a baby in Christ. The babies are always the easiest prey, the babies will be the first to fall. You see, you the baby in Christ are fresh out of the fold of Satan and fresh into the fold of Christ. You need to be consistently asking God for wisdom, you need to know that what is happening to you is the testing of your faith and you also need to know this, what it says in
1 Cor. 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”
Once we have endured and once we have proven ourselves throughout our lives, James says that we will “receive the crown of life”. You see, we are but a piece of coal, with enough pressure, with enough time, we will turn out to be diamonds in the kingdom of God.
